Following his move to Los Angeles from Ohio, Ted Feighan has returned with the next installment in his growing oeuvre as Exotica beatsmith, Monster Rally. Feighan’s third full-length as Monster Rally, Return to Paradise, is decidedly faster paced and more percussion-heavy than last year's Beyond the Sea, producing an aesthetic that closely resembles his live performances. The tracks melt together in a mysterious, blissful, and romantic haze invoking that signature Monster Rally thrill of being in a timeless, hypnagogic limbo. The album is pure pictorial fantasy, translating the images of a half-century of National Geographics into 17 tracks that’ll have both tiki drink connoisseurs and scotch aficionados swaying and bopping to the sweat and crackle of Feighan’s latest beatscapes. As with his past releases, Feighan is eager to have his passport stamped, reluctant to stay in one paradise for too long. His wanderlust samplings travel from Peru to Japan, Detroit to Maui, and Ghana to Barcelona expressing the pageantry and ceremony of destinations only the truly intrepid have tasted before.

The artwork of Return to Paradise is greatly inspired by the LP jackets of classic Exotica albums: Martin Denny's Quiet Village, Les Baxter's Jungle Jazz, and Arthur Lyman's Bwana to name just a few. Over fifty different varietals of flowers and plants from around the world decorate the blossoming arrangement on R2P’s cover. In addition, the packaging features printed sleeves showing a take on traditional Hawaiian patterned prints of native flowers and tropical birds. The inside of the gatefold jacket is a visual imagination of the kind of space Return to Paradise inevitably occupies.

"If Martin Denny and Madlib had a fully grown musical lovechild, that harmonious little stitch-job would no doubt sound like Monster Rally. Cleveland-via-Los Angeles producer Ted Feighan makes blossoming instrumental hip-hop that owes just as much to the annals of exotica and Tropicália. To wit: a song like "Orchids," the opening track from his recently released Return to Paradise. The lush ditty rolls in on a flurry of guitar notes and static pops before hand-hit drums give way to finger-punched sampler pads." - SPIN Magazine

"Feighan has an aptness for establishing mood and tone quickly." - MTV Hive

"Over the past handful of years, Feighan’s sublime solo project Monster Rally has evolved from the Seasonal Affective Disorder escapism of exotic loop-based psychedelia/tropicalia to the twinkly-eyed glamor of Old Hollywood. With each successive release, he’s also stepped up his beat pad game, infusing killer breaks into his ever more far-reaching soundscapes, reaching for the sort of crate-digging world music brilliance of Madlib. But instead of serving as some sort of paltry Beat Konducta Jr., Monster Rally’s chief attribute is preserving the beauty of its source material." - Passion of the Weiss

""Orchids", the first track from Monster Rally's Return to Paradise LP, is like a bossa nova version of Portishead’s “Elysium”. Combining lush, southern European instruments (or at least what sounds like a bouzouki) with modern hip hop beats, Monster Rally manage to strike a fair balance between traditional acoustics and digital manipulations. There is a warm and pleasant graininess to “Orchids” that gives it the feel of something composed and recorded in the early 20th century that might have found its way onto an Avalanches album." - No Fear Of Pop

"Los Angeles-based lo-fi beatsmith Monster Rally (a.k.a. Ted Feighan) is set to follow up last year's well-received Beyond the Sea LP with his third full-length, Return to Paradise (out on October 29 via Gold Robot). The album is said to "translate the images of a half-century of National Geographic into 17 tracks," and our first taste of this new record comes in the form of "Orchids." The Return to Paradise opener features lush guitar playing and a lackadaisical beat, which forms a serene, nostalgia-soaked whole." - XLR8R

"After a steady stream of releases over the last few years, Los Angeles-via-Ohio beatmaker Ted Feighan — doing business as Monster Rally — is back with his third full-length album, “Return to Paradise” (coming in October). Its first single is the shimmering and seductive “Orchids,” which begins with a dusty riff that wouldn’t be out of place on a tropical beach, and further builds into a dense, exotic production. This track sounds like Flying Lotus remixed “The Godfather” theme outside a Parisian café, prickling guitar strings gliding over layers of eclectic percussion. The album’s artwork above also matches the vibe, a flourishing floral collection of fifty-some vivacious worldly specimens. Buzzbands LA

"Monster Rally is the project of musician Ted Feighan, who is currently based in L.A. I’ve been listening to him for a few years now and have been impressed with the progression his music has made! This new album, Return to Paradise, sounds like his best work yet. Whereas in the early days we were treated to a short snippet of a groove or idea, now Feighan is crafting some wonderful songs that contain a lot more melodies and themes. He’s perfecting his craft, and judging from this first song, “Orchids,” this album might be his best." - Indie Shuffle

"What if Tim Feighan, pka Monster Rally, is patching together exotica beats as facilitation of VISA stamps? Since forming the escapist tropicalia sound, he's bettered his station, leaving Ohio for the golden poppy eaters of California. He's now closer to Hawaii or perhaps Bali is the next frontier. The lead single from Monster Rally's upcoming Return To Paradise LP is "Orchids", a drum powow nestled in the deep reds of a faraway sunset. It's easy to imagine "Orchids" finding its way into the soundtrack of the next Baz Luhrmann novel-adaptation, possibly Hemingway's The Garden of Eden. The efforless mash-up of dusty old tropicalia records given new life through the button-press, beat machine production seems fitting of Luhrmann's taste." - IMPOSE

"My love for my homie Ted’s musical landscapes is known. Often his soundscapes take me to Bora Bora or Papua New Guinea. With his new track I feel I’ve made it to the Seville or Croatian coastline where the weather has a bit of a tropical vibe but more of a Hispanic dreamscape where the edges are “glowy” and fuzzy and completely drenched in the 6pm sunlight. Likely, brought on by his move from Ohio to LA." - Head Underwater

"Los Angeles via Ohio exotic beat producer Monster Rally is back with a new cut from his upcoming album Return To Paradise, his third full-length album to date. “Orchids” is a seductive tropical beat that would surely be playing behind Don Draper anytime he visits Los Angeles. It’s sunny, infectious and will make you want to strap on a swimsuit, jump on a raft and float off into the sunset." - PORTALS

"It’s no exaggeration when I say that California-by-way-of-Ohio producer Monster Rally (a.k.a. Ted Feighan) lays out some of the chillest vibes I’ve ever heard. For example, “Orchid” is the first single from his forthcoming third full-length Return to Paradise. It’s effortlessly cool and debonaire, like the smooth rolling soundtrack to some James Bond-style international espionage. As for the rest of the album, the label’s bio sells it: “His wanderlust samplings travel from Peru to Japan, Detroit to Maui, and Ghana to Barcelona expressing the pageantry and ceremony of destinations only the truly intrepid have tasted before.” Sign me up!" - Turntable Kitchen

"Imagine the 60s James Bond movies, sort of slow-paced spy movies, Sean Connery in the Caribbean. That is exactly what the new and absolutely phenomenal Monster Rally LP sounds like. Young Sean Connery, in a suit, in the Caribbean. Mellow tropical tunes with a 1960s special agent flair to it. " - Poule D'Or

"Monster Rally continues to express his minimalist genius today with brand new track and album announcement. On Oct. 29, Monster Rally will be releasing Return To Paradise. It will contain lead single “Orchids”, which is streamable below. And, if you are already giving the record a spin, you will notice the producer has taken his sound up a notch with more vivid acoustics and a refined take on his signature tropical looping." - Potholes In My Blog

"Having survived the lounge resurgence of the early 90s, all I can say is that I wish a lot of the bandwagon jumpers back in the day knew what Monster Rally knows now. To pull off an album as tropical and martini-soaked as this and still be infinitely listenable you need to stay heavy on the cool, light on the cheese." - Beat Frequencies Forever

"Monster Rally is the project of musician Ted Feighan, who is currently based in LA. I’ve profiled him for a few years now and have been impressed with the progression his music has made from when I first heard Monster Rally. This new album, “Return to Paradise”, sounds like his best work yet. Whereas in the early days you were treated to a short snippet of a groove or idea, now Feighan is crafting some wonderful songs that contain a lot more melodies and themes." - Song of the Day

"In under three minutes, Orchids, the new track from Monster Rally, does more to whet the appetite for his forthcoming full-length than any spirited ad campaign ever could. A series of swirling, hypnotic snapshots of far-off lands, the varying influences are abundant while the level of craft and skill that ties them all together is seemingly endless. The lush guitar strings are tickled and shaped with dizzying effect, the percussion is a constantly vibrant counterpoint, and the whole thing rustles and buzzes with the heat and flavours of the rainforest that is depicted on the albums cover." - Gold Flake Paint

"Someone we’re pretty new to at Commercial Free is Columbus born producer Monster Rally but we’re already loving his brand of exotic hip hop instrumental tracks that are crying out for the silky rhymes of someone like DOOM or FlyLo. His latest offering Orchids sounds like something from a Mad Men soundtrack and it’s awesome." - Commercial Free

"Monster Rally mastermind Ted Feighan mines sounds from old records, re-imagining them into sonic environments with their own logic, momentum, and—this is the strange part—organic vitality." - Fingertips Music

"Monster Rally returns to Gold Robot with another 12″ of dusty beats cobbled together from your grandmother’s cocktail hour repertoire. Swinging and tropical vibes, dropping your needle on this one is like throwing a dart at a map of the world." - OMG Vinyl

"Exotic beatmaker Ted Feighan (aka Monster Rally) has long been a favorite here at Hype Machine HQ (he turned in a magnificent set at Hype Hotel earlier this year, too). On this, his third album, he has sought to "translate the images of a half-century of National Geographic into 17 tracks", with samples drawn from destinations as far and wide as Peru, Japan, Detroit, Maui, Ghana and Barcelona." - Hype Machine

"(A) killer mix of old vinyl crackle, hip hop beats and pure tropical bliss. This album is solid, and does just as it’s title suggests." - 3hive

"By this point, with 5 EPs and 5 full-length albums over the last three years, Monster Rally has established an identity lush with color, warmth, and nostalgia. However, within that spectrum, Monster Rally can go anywhere. Listening to “El Retorno”, off of his newest release Return to Paradise, I was struck by how it took parts of the Monster Rally I’ve grown to know and love and combined it with elements setting foot on a whole new path." - Bread Handed

"Monster Rally’s latest release Return to Paradise, like the rest of MR’s catalogue, is better defined by a mindset than any genre. As the cover colorfully depicts, it’s a playful venture into the tropical carelessness of sick days well-spent somewhere warm at the brunt of winter’s frigidity." - Violent Success

"But then there is the element that really gives the album its punch—that is, the muffled force of the beats from Feighan’s 404. Sure, many tracks begin with the samples presented in their pure form, without embellishments, immersing us into their past. But after twenty seconds or so Feighan yanks us out of our reverie with hip-hop’s kicks and snares, pulling us back into the present. Our ears and minds wander into the distance, but part of us always remains aware of where our bodies really are—the year 2013, with our butts rooted on the couch, in a world where it is not the tropical but the urban that waits outside our doors. Feighan invites us to travel, but he also makes sure we know how to get back home." - PORTALS (full album review)

"The album sees Monster Rally at it’s greatest, with warm vibes, upbeat grooves, and chill moments running aplenty amidst Oriental, Latin, Bossa Nova, Salsa, Acid Jazz, and a myriad of other tones, hooks, basslines, and rhythms under the umbrella of ever present psychedelia. And while each track journeys into it’s own realm, the album listened to in its entirety is truly majestic." - ProperYarn